Today's society with increased mobility of goods and people has led to the transport sector becoming a large and important factor. The transport sector comprises long-distance trucks shipping cargo both internationally and nationally, lorries for medium distance and regional transports, long-distance busses as well as trains and ships, to mention some.
Within this sector, as with so many other, the demands for fast and flexible transports, together with many competitors in the sector pressing the prizes, has led to a high pressure on keeping the vehicles moving as much as possible.
This in turn means that the drivers are forced to minimum lunch and coffee breaks as stated by the law. In order to have a cup of coffee or the like whenever they want to, many transporting vehicles are equipped with coffee makers placed in the driver cabin.
The coffee makers for vehicles on the market today have a design very similar to a household coffee maker with a water container, a heating plate on which a glass jug is placed and a filter holder on top of the jug. Usually the only difference is that they are adapted to a much lower voltage so that they can be connected to the vehicle's electrical system.
Since these coffee makers are not adapted to a moving vehicle, they are quite a safety risk. In order to operate the maker the driver has to take his eyes off the road for quite some time, even to fill a cup. Further since the coffee jug is only supported on the heating plate by a low ledge, there is a great risk that the jug falls off should the vehicle make a sudden turn or break, whereby coffee will be spilled all over the cabin and on the driver. Further, hot steam from the coffee maker could condense on the windshield if the coffee maker is placed on the dashboard. There is thus a need for a coffee maker adapted to moving vehicles and which does not constitute a safety risk for the driver or the traffic.
Other types of makers of beverages use freeze-dried powder for beverages, such as instant coffee, cocoa, or beverages based on fruit or berries. The powder is placed in a container arranged above the tapping point of the maker. A water supply is also arranged to the tapping point. When the beverage is to be prepared the bottom of the container is opened to allow a certain amount of powder to fall down, either into an intermediate mixing chamber or a mug or the like. An amount of water is also supplied whereby they mix and produce a beverage.
For vehicles and the like with limited space available this type of maker is not optimal because it tends to be rather high and generally bulky, even though the use of freeze-dried powder is an advantage since it is easy to handle and produces beverages very fast.